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Hugo Strange (Arkhamverse)
Biography First gaining fame as a psychiatrist who declared that he’d fully analyzed the Dark Knight from afar, Professor Hugo Strange lent credence to his own claims by deducing Batman’s true identity as Bruce Wayne. However, his interest in the Batman turned into a deranged obsession, and he’s used his medical expertise to hatch a series of bizarre plots based around genetics and mind control in order to defeat the Batman and possibly take his place. Strange’s fragile mental state has left him with intermittent knowledge of Batman’s true identity, a fact that hangs over Bruce Wayne’s head – for if Strange ever snaps completely, Batman’s greatest secret might be revealed… Attributes *Trained to physical perfection *Extensive Knowledge of Genetics *Obsessed with Batman and Batman's secret identity *Plagued by schizophrenic episodes that leave him confused and dangerous Background private military contractors.]] Hugo Strange is an unknown and relatively new player to Gotham City. Although he is a licensed psychiatrist, little else is known about his origins and Strange has been shrouded in mystery for years. Early on in his career, he became obsessed with Batman and dedicated his life to finding out more about Gotham City's greatest protector. Apparently spending years intensifying his studies on the one topic, Strange also became intrigued with Batman's perfect code of justice--no one dies by his hand. He also longed to become the Dark Knight himself, inherit the legend of such a crimefighter. With such an cunning mind being put to work, it wasn't long before the cunning doctor used his skills to discover his subject's secrets, including his alter ego as millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. Strange was later to exploit this knowledge by slowly setting the stage in Gotham for the ultimate challenge: To first destroy Batman in a one-on-one chess game with his city as the board along with friend and foe as pawns, then to take over as the Caped Crusader himself and use the identity for his own purposes. One of Strange's psychiatric patients was Warden Quincy Sharp, administrator of Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, where most of Batman's Rogues Gallery were kept. Strange soon found Sharp to be the best kind of puppet: Established, old-fashioned, affluent, and completely hollow. He was a blank easel, fit for someone else to manipulate. Over a period of three years the warden found himself programmed into becoming Strange's "face", being used to set the stage for a showdown with the Masked Manhunter. One of his first moves was to make Sharp run for mayor in Gotham, knowing that if the asylum director won the position it would give him almost unlimited influence over the city. These plans were almost set back by a massive riot at Arkham Asylum carried out by The Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, who freed most of its deranged inmates and took over the institution for one night before his scheme was thwarted by Batman himself. With his security systems disabled, his private security force completely routed by the rampaging patients, and chaos spreading across the locked-down Arkham, Sharp's public image was nearly derailed for allowing such an incident to happen. However, quick-witted Strange was soon to exploit such an opportunity, declaring once the riot had been suppressed that the warden was solely responsible for stopping the Joker and thereby giving him enough public support to make his successful bid for mayor. Now, with such a madman finally in control of the "board", the pieces of an ingenius plan to destroy a Dark Knight began to fall into place. Prelude to Arkham City Hugo Strange retreated further into the shadows once the now-Mayor Sharp was introduced to the public spotlight. He stayed in contact with his pawn mainly through the occasional phone counseling session, and directed his every word in public through a radio receiver implanted in Quincy's ear. Sharp is able to keep a strong resolve with Strange's manipulation guiding him into declaring Gotham a war zone and instituting a new prison system for all criminals after several rogue members of Two Face's gang destroyed the city hall, killing more than three hundred citizens. It is implied that the psychiatrist had been planning this incident all along from his position behind the scenes, thereby coming up with a pretext to put Gotham City under martial law and begin running it like his own police state. With Arkham Asylum and the local penitentiary now unfit to house criminals, a drastic new project is introduced with the broad mayoral powers at a villain's disposal: Arkham City. Arkham City, in fact, is a hellish anarchic nightmare: Dozens of the worst criminals are simply thrown into a walled-off lawless district where everyone can forget about them. Hugo Strange, of course, finally comes into the limelight when Mayor Sharp places him at the helm of the new project, delegating to him full authority over both the project and its staff. In addition to repeat-offenders and criminally insane mental patients, hundreds of innocent people are also rounded up and locked into the prison city, even those with only minor records. To prevent Arkham denizens from escaping, a new security force is formed out of professional mercenaries. The team, made up of well-paid former military and police operatives, is codenamed "TYGER" and is subsequently turned into Strange's personal squad of trained assassins. Quincy Sharp's dictator-like stance soon compels the public to loath and fear him. None except Batman, however, suspect that Sharp is merely the front man for a much more insidious plot orchestrated by an outside power. ''Batman: Arkham City'' Because of the secrecy involved in the project known as Arkham City and frequent challenges with Qunicy Sharp, Bruce Wayne enters into the political arena to challenge the necessity of Arkham City and questions its existence. During a live press conference attended by Vicki Vale and Jack Ryder, Hugo Strange ordered Arkham City's TYGER Security Contractors to storm the press conference and take Wayne prisoner. They accomplished their mission delivering Wayne to Strange where he proceeded to experiment and torture the man with electrical shocks. During this, Strange revealed to Bruce Wayne that he knew the truth about his secret identity as Batman and that he would reveal it to the world should Wayne not cooperate with him and his personnel in Arkham City. With Protocol 10 soon to be enacted, Strange had Wayne thrown into the prison where he would soon become a target and would, theoretically, be quickly killed by the various gangs. Sent in with Ryder and another, unidentified, prisoner, Strange watched and announced their new arrival to the citizens of Arkham City. His attention was soon diverted, and intercepted by Bruce, with the news that Catwoman) was about to be executed by recent arrival Two-Face. While Strange saw it as inconsequential, Bruce set off to stop the assassination as Batman. When caught by a helicopter, Strange quickly ordered that Batman was to be ignored as he was not important. As time passed by, Strange realized Batman was becoming more of a risk while in Arkham City and resolved himself to employ psychological mind games against the Dark Knight. With Crime Alley firmly entrenched in Arkham City, Strange had the murder scene of Bruce's parents redrawn and a bouquet of roses placed next to the chalk outlines of their bodies. Soon after, realizing that he'd outlived his usefulness, Strange ordered Quincy Sharp arrested by his security forces. Strange had Sharp dumped into Arkham City where he quickly became a target of the various gangs because of his previous affiliation with Arkham and rumors that he had abused inmates of the Asylum. To ensure that Sharp became a victim of the lawlessness, Strange announced his location over the announcement system. Two hours later, Strange called an emergency meeting of the City Council where he informed them of a riot deep within Arkham City and that Protocol 10 was the only option available. Strange would then enact Protocol 10: the systematic destruction of Arkham City and all of the town's residents. TYGER assault helicopters broke off of their patrols and started tracking any and all prisoners that they could find. Missiles were launched deep into the heart of Arkham City, hitting the Iceberg Lounge, Sionis Industries, and the Solomon Wayne Courthouse directly. While Batman was set to pursue Talia to rescue her from Joker, at the pleading of both Alfred Pennyworth and Oracle Batman went after Strange. While fighting his way through the subway system to Wonder Tower, Batman learns from Strange that he was carrying out the orders of another and that he has private backers. In addition, it is discovered that Arkham City is only the first of an addition series of prisons planned to be built with centers scheduled to be open in both Keystone City and Metropolis before the end of the year. As he is getting closer to reaching the Wonder Tower, Strange augments security with additional troops in the subway system and orders them to shoot anyone on sight. Nonetheless, Batman is able to reach the Security Center at the apex of Wonder Tower. In their confrontation, Strange reveals the truth to Batman that he intends to replace him as the new Batman and gloats about how he has become better than the Dark Knight ever could've been because he eliminated crime in Gotham City. Declaring that he will soon have command over forces beyond comprehension, Strange is attacked by Ra's al Ghul who was the silent benefactor of the project through the League of Assassins. It becomes apparent that Strange's ultimate goal was to replace Ras and assume control over the League of Assassins and obtain the powers of immortality for himself through the Lazarus Pit. With Batman out of the way, Strange would be able to seize complete control over Gotham and multiple other cities as the new Batman with TYGER and the League serving as his armies. Ras, however revealed that he never had any intentions of giving Strange any position of permanent power and was simply his pawn to eliminate crime in Gotham, telling the dying doctor that the only thing that he has proven was that Batman was much better than him. In turn, Strange, who had anticipated a possible betrayal, employed his contingency plan: Protocol 11. Seconds later the self destruct protocols engaged and the Wonder Tower exploded seconds after expiring his last breath, his body being consumed with his tower and TYGER guards, ending the madness and plans of Hugo Strange once and for all. Notes *Hugo Strange is extremely secretive about his ongoing work in Arkham City, and has been implied to be causing the disappearances of those who attempt to find out more about himself or his project. One such unfortunate is reporter Jack Ryder, who is placed in Arkham City himself to be torn apart by the inmates. *In Christmas of 2010, Rocksteady released a preview of Batman: Arkham City showcasing Hugo Strange's madness in Arkham City. The preview depicted the failure of a TYGER mercenary platoon to capture the World's Greatest Detective despite a well-planned ambush. To decipher the truth about the mission, Strange tortured a TYGER officer, utilizing a variety of brainwashing techniques, electric shocks, and lethal doses of a powerful truth serum in forcing him to unconsciously recount every precise detail regarding the encounter with the Batman. The body of this TYGER guard can later be found as a riddle in the actual game. *The pass-code for Protocol 11, Wayne could indicate that Strange had anticipated that Batman would, eventually, reach him and potentially defeat him. * Strange's old psychiatrist office can be found within the boundaries of Arkham City, serving as a riddle, which sheds more light on the mysterious and criminal past of the villain once solved. Category: Batman: Arkham City Characters Category:Deceased Characters